Alberta's boycott of B.C. wine is over—for now.

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley announced at a press conference on February 22 that she was suspending her province's ban on B.C. wine that had been implemented on February 6.

The ban was launched in response to the B.C. government's proposed restrictions on the Kinder Morgan's pipeline expansion from Edmonton to Burnaby.

Notley made the announcement after B.C. Premier John Horgan said he would leave it up to courts to decide whether or not the B.C. government could impose a temporary ban on increased export of bitumen from Alberta.

"I'm confident the courts will not give B.C. rights it does not possess under the constitution," Notley stated. "In other words, I'm confident the constitution will be upheld, and we will have seen the last of these ridiculous threats."

She said that the actions that B.C. government took were illegal and "not in the best interest of all Canadians, but particularly British Columbians".

However, Notley added that the Alberta government would not hesitate to act again in the future if necessary.

"If it becomes clear that this action is, in fact, part of a deliberate strategy to harass the pipeline and its investors with frivolous or unconstitutional legal challenges, we will act immediately, and we will expect our federal partners to do the same," she said.

She vowed that Alberta "won't back down from this fight" and that a market-access task force, which provides the Albertan government with legal advice about the pipeline project, will continue its work.

The dispute arose after Notley claimed the B.C. government did not have the constitutional right to impose limitations on increased bitumen shipments, as was proposed, until the government conducted more studies on oil spills.

B.C. did not respond to Alberta's wine boycott with a counter-boycott.

However on February 19, Minister of Jobs, Trade and Technology Bruce Ralston announced that the B.C. government would challenge Alberta's ban on B.C. wine through the Canadian Free Trade Act dispute settlement process. On February 21, the B.C. Wine Institute also announced that it was taking legal action against the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission, which implemented the ban.

The B.C. government also proclaimed April as B.C. Wine Month to increase B.C. wines in B.C. liquor stores, including wines from small and medium producers, as well as the promotion of B.C. wines in international markets.